Post-Covid and the “Next Normal" with Prof David Hughes (Plants)

Join Dr David Hughes, Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at Imperial College London, and Visiting Professor at the Royal Agricultural University, U.K as he delivers an online talk about the challenges & opportunities for UK arable and plant agriculture?

What to expect

Coronavirus or not, we’re going to keep on eating and drinking.

That’s good news for food producers. Many consumer and industry trends that were evident pre-Covid are accelerating as we judder towards the “Next Normal”.

For arable and plant agriculture, the next 20 years will be extraordinary. The world of protein is changing fast with plant-based protein having an extraordinary surge in popularity.

The notion of planet-friendly food plays straight to the strengths of arable and plant agriculture.

I’d wager that the next generation of farmers will look back on the pre-Covid period as this generation looks back on Constable’s Hay Wain – i.e. “what a glorious bucolic scene but thank goodness we’ve moved on”!

From a consumer perspective, the next 3 years will be a hard grind as they claw their way back to the income position they had in 2019.

In agriculture, we’ll come to terms with the harsh reality of being a small island food producer in a burgeoning world increasingly dominated by big markets in Asia and then, Africa.

It will require us to be quick on our feet, claiming the largest share of our best market that we can – our home market – and capturing export market niches where we can excel and capture the maximum value.

Key note-speaker:

Dr. David Hughes is Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at Imperial College London, and Visiting Professor at the Royal Agricultural University, U.K. He is a much sought-after speaker at international conferences and seminars on global food industry issues, particularly consumer and retail trends. David has lived and worked in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa and South East Asia and has extensive experience as an international advisory board member with food companies and financial service organizations on three continents.